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Neon rooftop sign to cast glow on Automobile Alley

The 15-year effort to bathe Broadway with neon signs echoing back to its hey day as Oklahoma City's premier automobile alley is set to get its biggest addition yet with recreation of a “Buick” rooftop sign that likely will be seen from miles away.

The 15-year effort to bathe Broadway with neon light — echoing back to its hey day as the city's premier automobile alley — is set to get its biggest addition yet with recreation of a 24-by-23-foot “Buick” rooftop sign that likely will be seen from miles away.

Chris Fleming, a partner in the Midtown Renaissance development group, said the sign is being modeled after one pictured atop the four-story former dealership at 1101 N Broadway more than a half century ago.

“It's one of the more prominent buildings along Automobile Alley, and certainly it marks the end on the strip due to its scale, which will be further amplified by having a sign like this on top of it,” Fleming said.

“Signs like this add to the sense of place. You look at Automobile Alley, and something that is a big characteristic of Automobile Alley are its neon signs. We hope this will be the cherry on top of the sundae of what's already being created.”

Plans for the Buick sign must be approved at this month's meeting of the Downtown Design Review Committee.

The sign will be built by J&B Graphics, which also assembled the signage at the new home of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation and the entry sign to the Stockyards district.

“This is an old-style, retro look, where we will be taking the Buick logo and creating lettering 9 inches thick,” said J&B Graphics owner Bob Morris. “The way it's designed, the Buick name will look like it's floating in the air. It will be a real showpiece.”

The idea to bathe Broadway in neon lighting dates back to 1998, when the Kirkpatrick Foundation agreed to offer $10,000 grants in partnership with the Automobile Alley Association. Since then, more than a dozen neon signs have gone up along Automobile Alley, which spans Broadway between NW 4 and NW 13.

Architect Rand Elliott, who helped developer Nick Preftakes with the first neon display, the Hudson-Essex sign at 825 N Broadway, has high praise for the planned Buick rooftop sign.

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Steve Lackmeyer is a reporter and columnist who started his career at The Oklahoman in 1990. Since then, he has won numerous awards for his coverage, which included the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, the city's Metropolitan...